Currently | Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Happy Friday, again! Right now as I’m typing this, it’s 6:04 a.m., and I’ve been awake since 2:30 a.m. Our dog woke us up in the middle of the night because he was about to barf, so as you can imagine, we both jolted out of bed (well, M did, and I just turned on the light). After Chapman was taken care of, M went back to sleep, and I stayed awake. Once my regular wake-up call of 5 a.m. came rolling around, I just decided to stay awake, because who needs sleep anyway. I can barely keep my eyes open, but I’d rather write instead. Let’s get to this week’s recap, shall we?

Our weekend and week was a good one. We went to a crawfish boil with friends, we got to spend time with my dad at our church festival on Sunday, I got a surprise visit from my sister Monday morning, we had two play dates this week, I went to Target alone, and I got to go to lunch with one of my BFFs, Ali, making us hit an all-time high record of seeing each other three times in one week, twice with no children (we haven’t seen each other that much since we worked together). Not too shabby, huh? This week I’m so thankful for the little things.

ONE. 

Ready for…

SUMMER. Well, Charlotte is at least. This weekend at our crawfish boil, Charlotte and M hopped in our friend’s pool, and it reminded me just how much Charlotte loves the water. It took her a minute to warm up, but she was jumping in all by herself in no time. Thank goodness we have nice neighbors and friends who will gladly have us over to swim. I also might send her to swim lessons, but I think a dance class might beat that one.

TWO.

Thankful for…

On Sunday, we went to our church’s spring festival, and we enjoyed it so much. It was held in the front parking lot with lots of tents, and despite the rain, it was a great day! Charlotte got to play in a bounce house, play games, get her face painted, eat yummy food and funnel cake, and spend time with her PawPaw. Even though my family doesn’t live near us, they are always willing to make the two-hour drive to come see us any chance they can, and I appreciate our time together more than ever.

This picture above was taken when we were waiting for the auction to start, and it was well past her naptime. She was trying to get out of my lap, whining her way into oblivion, but I squeezed her enough to get her to stay still for a second. My silly goose.

THREE.

Excited about…

New headshots! Last week on my Facebook page (have I told you how much I love that little community we have going on over there?), I asked for your opinion on which headshot I should use for blog promotion/business/branding purposes. I just got these two headshots back that I took at the Thrive Blog Conference, taken by Smith House Photography, and it was so hard to pick one. Both of them really tell you who I am, and I think my favorite is the one on the right, but y’all voted for the one on the left. Thanks so much for all the input! I’ll be phasing out my old one this weekend.

FOUR.

Going over…

All of the info, feedback, and questions y’all have given me since the survey and an all-call for questions for a Q&A post. The biggest surprise from the survey was that most of you reading are NOT bloggers, but a big chunk (37%) of you are. More than half of you are like me and in your 30s. Forty percent of you are newish readers, only being a part of the Seven Graces clan for a year or less. And you all are most excited about the Bible Study! I haven’t set a launch date for it, but I’m really hoping it will be before CMM arrives in September. My goal is to write every single day for 49 days. Why 49 days? Because that’s how many entries will be in the study.

I’m really excited to answer a lot of your questions you sent in, too! I’ll get to the Q&A post soon, but there are a few posts I wanted to point you to for a little more background info about the blog and myself, in case you might have missed these.

• Beyond the Pretty Pictures: #NoFilter
• Confessions of a Mom Blogger
• When You Don’t Have It All Together
• Doing Less With More Focus: What Really Happened in 2015
• Listening to a Calling

Thank you to all of you who sent in input and questions. You all really lifted me up and inspired me to continue being exactly who I am: flawed, real, and honest, but full of faith.

FIVE.

Listening to…

the words of Jesus. To be honest, this week I’ve been feeling really discouraged about writing the Bible Study (and even this blog). I’ve been doubting myself, and I’ve even let a few naysayers get into my head. I’ve been feeling ordinary, not smart enough, and I’ve been telling myself things like, “You’re not even a Bible scholar. Why would you think you could write a Bible Study?” But today when I opened up my First 5 app, it spoke directly to my doubting heart. The opening verse was from Acts 4:13 saying, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” As soon as I read those lines, I knew that God was talking to me. These ordinary men, Peter and John, how did they know how to serve? How did they do what they did? All they did was say yes. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m saying yes.

We are all created for a good work. God has something prepared just for you. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” When you feel ordinary, just remember, God has something waiting for you to do that only you can do.

Serving God isn’t always easy. When we say yes, many others will want to tell us no. Even Peter and John encountered resistance and really ticked people off. But they didn’t let that stop them from completing their good work and neither should we.

Romans 12: 6-8 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

Amen.

---

I hope you have had the best week, and I hope you have an even better weekend! Be blessed, friend!

In case you missed it, here are the blog posts from this week:

• Mother’s Day Wishlist 2016
• 5 Tex-Mex Recipes You Need to Know + How to Make a Non-Alcoholic Mojito

Talk to you later, alligator.

Are we connected? Be sure to follow along here:
Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // Bloglovin // Pinterest // Snapchat: kristy7graces